Refiners in India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, are bracing for higher imports of energy from Washington, as New Delhi looks to boost its energy purchases from the US to $25 billion from $15 billion last year. India’s imports from its top oil supplier Russia rose 4.3% last month to 1.58 million barrels per day, per data.
The purchase of Russian oil by India is likely to fall in the coming months as refiners would buy Russian oil only if it is supplied by companies and ships that have not been sanctioned by the United States.
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Widened sanctions on Moscow by Western countries including the United States have roiled global oil trade and forced buyers of discounted Russian crude to find new ways to maintain their purchases.
Imports of Middle Eastern oil rose by 6.5% in January to 2.7 million bpd, with Iraq continuing to be the second largest oil supplier to India, followed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to the data.
Last month, Indian refiners turned to non-Russian oil after the government warned them about the U.S. sanctions weeks before they were announced. The share of Middle Eastern oil in India’s about 5.1 million bpd crude imports in January rose to a 27-month high of about 53%, while that of Russia remained almost stagnant from December, the data showed.
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In the first 10 months of the current fiscal year from April 1, 2024, India’s oil imports rose 4.5% to an average of 4.8 million barrels per day, per data.
